


Star-Gazing

by TheAzureFox



Category: Puzzles & Dragons X (Anime)
Genre: Lance/Ace if you squint, M/M, all my titles for this fandom start w/ S, star-gazing, tentative AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-22
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2019-02-05 08:56:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12791136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAzureFox/pseuds/TheAzureFox
Summary: Lance and Ace take a break under the stars of the sky.





	Star-Gazing

He finds Lance in the meadow of flowers. The boy is sitting with his legs drawn up and gaze to the moon lit sky. His expression is unreadable but distant, like his eyes are being pulled into another memory. Ace isn’t sure what to do when he finds his rival but he knows, at the very least, that Lance hasn’t run off.

The blond boy had been displaying strange behavior since they had left the City of Light. And, while Ace hadn’t known him for too long – maybe six months at best – Lance’s attitude worried him. The blue-capped boy had displayed an unusual sense of agitation, becoming irritated by every little annoyance and lashing out when questioned on his actions. But, at the same time, in an ironic fashion, he had become more open to Ace and the rest of the group. Lance had admitted that he wasn’t nearly as confident as he acted. He had admitted that his fault with retrieving Tamadora had unnerved him, more so in the fact that his inability to complete a mission had caused some major consequences. The military was after them, Dominion wanted their heads and their heads alone. Devi, his lifelong partner and his one support in his missions, had nearly been stolen from him and, as a result, Lance isolated himself from his Tamadora partner, locking him inside his Drop Orb. The latter occurrence had only been temporary but Ace still remembered with a smile the relief and joy that Lance felt upon seeing his best friend again. It had taken a bit of convincing (and mischief) from Ace to get Lance to even release Devi, but, in the end, everything had worked out good enough.

Now, however, Ace became worried. Lance almost never left their makeshift camps at night. He was like a stationary soldier, always wary and cautious of what was around him. He never left far from their place of set-up, protective of his party members as well as their one line of defense should Dominion decide to ambush them.  For Lance to wander away when he was so aware of the situation…Ace almost wondered why the boy would break his mission’s code in order to stargaze.

Ace strolls forward, quietly. The grass crunches underneath his feet, and Ace is afraid he’ll disturb Lance with his daydream. However, as he moves closer, he notices the boy doesn’t move, doesn’t react, as Ace comes to sit by his side. Lance is only looking up, the stars reflecting in his golden eyes. The surface of his gaze glitters with the sight, entrancing in the fact that its owner is unaware of the other’s presence.

Or, that’s what Ace thought.

There’s a small sigh and those glittering eyes shift to him. The gaze shone upon him is distant still but there is a flicker of emotion that burns behind the disinterested circles of yellow. It makes Lance smile invitingly, as if Ace’s presence amuses him.

“Are you here to watch the stars with me?” Lance asks, leaning back. His hands plant onto the grassy ground beneath them, intertwining with the plants and the dirt until they disappear behind a haze of green. 

“I didn’t think you liked star-gazing.”

The blond boy looks up. “I did, long ago,” a hand appears from the ground and reaches for the sky. It grabs at air and slowly falls upon his knees. “I don’t anymore. It’s not a luxury I can afford on missions.”

“You’re star-gazing right now,” Ace points out. “Technically, wouldn’t this be considered a luxury right now?”

“I guess,” Lance’s shoulders lift up in the slightest of shrugs. “It’s just…I feel like I can get away here. From everything. From my missions, from my past, from the people who think Dragon Callers are nothing more than puppets for entertainment…the world is just so wide and so vast but nothing can compare to the stars. They’re so far away, so unworried, that sometimes I wonder if I could join them.”

Ace stays silent, gaze tossed up. The white dots in the sky gleam, glistening with soft light. They’re calm, unwavering, and Ace can feel the jealousy that Lance carries. 

“You know,” Ace murmurs, “one day, I wonder if we’ll all be free from this. Free from Dominion, free from apocalypses and free from rampant dragons. If, one day, such a time comes, what will you do, Lance?”

A Water Drop is pulled from the ground and into Lance’s cupped hands. He holds it with light fingers, letting it hover up and down in careful movements. “If such a day came, I wonder. I’d still be working under Master Vahaton, probably.”

“And, what else?”

Lance turns to him. “What else what?”

“You can’t be serving under Vahaton for an eternity. He has other Dragon Callers to help him,” Ace smiles. “I mean, what are you going to do with your life? Are you going to keep Dragon Callers and the rest of the world from going to war? Are you going to raise orphaned baby dragons?”

“I…haven’t thought about it,” the boy looks at Ace, eyebrows furrowing. “Honestly, it’s never been a question to me. I don’t think I have anything I want to do.”

“How about travel the world?”

Lance frowns, tilting his head. “Why?”

“Because it’s fun!” Ace shoots to his feet. “I mean, come on, ever since you joined this journey, haven’t you felt that traveling around Dragoza Island’s been fun? We’ve done so many things together, we’ve seen so many places! Wouldn’t it be fun if we could travel to other places too?”

“It would be.”

Ace sits back down, tilting his head towards the other boy. “Hey, Lance?”

“Yes?”

“When this is all over. Do you want to travel? With me, I mean?”

Lance ponders over that. His gaze is pensive, wary, like he can’t think of a response. Then, he smiles, if only slightly. “Sure.”

The ginger-haired boy holds out a fist. Lance eyes it with a huff of amusement before he, too, places out a fist. They fist-bump and then Ace grins.

“I look forward to traveling with you, Lance!”

His rival gazes back at the stars, eyes glittering again. But, this time Ace doesn’t just see their lights reflecting in his eyes but happiness as well. “Yeah,” Lance murmurs. “Me too.”

Ace smiles.


End file.
